5 Must-Follow Healthcare Recruiting Trends

The biggest challenge in healthcare recruiting is a big demand for healthcare professionals coupled with a lack of talented candidates. In this article, you will learn about the top 5 healthcare recruiting trends you should implement if you want to be able find and keep the best healthcare professionals!

Challenges in healthcare recruiting

The biggest challenge in healthcare recruiting is a big demand for healthcare professionals coupled with a lack of talented candidates.

Great hiring demand...

There is a serious hiring demand for healthcare professionals at the moment, and this trend will continue to grow. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of healthcare occupations is projected to grow 18% from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations, adding about 2.4 million new jobs.

...and lack of talent

As stated by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States faces an emergency that, if left untreated, could become a pervasive and persistent pandemic. The association predicts that by 2020, the US will face a shortage of 90,000 physicians, and 130,000 by 2025.

Current state of healthcare recruiting

According to the 2017 Healthcare Recruiting Trends Report, a survey of 352 healthcare recruiters and hiring managers released by Health eCareers, the current state of healthcare recruitment is characterized by inability to find qualified professionals and stagnant candidate interest.

The report also found that employers have had to increase salaries and expand benefits to attract candidates and retain current employees.

However, there are many more strategies you can use to attract candidates and retain your current employees. In this article, I will present top 5 healthcare recruiting trends you should implement if you want to be able attract and keep the best healthcare professionals!

Top 5 healthcare recruiting trends

Here are the top 5 must-follow healthcare recruiting trends:

Healthcare recruiting trend #1: Employer branding

In the same 2017 Healthcare Recruiting Trends Report, most healthcare employers are aware of the importance an employer brand has for attracting talent. However, while 92% say that employer branding is an important means to attract talent, significantly fewer have a dedicated budget for employer branding (43%) or a dedicated role in charge of it (44%).

This is unfortunate, because employer branding has many benefits. According to LinkedIn, a strong employer brand reduce their cost per hire by 50%, see 50% more qualified applicants and take 1-2x faster to hire. Not only that - a strong employer brand also reduces turnover by 28%!

Healthcare recruiting trend #2: Social media recruiting

Only 30% of healthcare recruiters use social media to attract candidates. Social media is a particularly effective tool in healthcare recruiting because of the demanding nature of healthcare jobs. According to HRO Today, many health job seekers work long unpredictable hours and struggle to find time to research companies that are hiring, let alone submit applications.

This is where social media recruiting comes in! By using social media in recruitment, healthcare organizations and recruiters can meet potential candidates on the platforms that they are already using during their limited free time.

Healthcare recruiting trend #3: Campus recruiting

Another big challenge in healthcare recruiting is a big competition for young healthcare professionals. The 2017 Physician Recruitment Benchmark Data report noted that new grads are recruited quickly, making the race for quality employees even more challenging.

However, there is a way to get ahead of other healthcare organizations and recruiters looking to hire recent healthcare graduates. Don’t wait until young healthcare professionals are out of college - start recruiting them while they are still students! Reach out to career centers at the colleges and universities and organize interesting on-campus events.

Healthcare recruiting trend #4: Employee referrals

Many healthcare recruiters and employer underestimate and underutilize the power of employee referrals when it comes to finding and attracting the best healthcare candidates. Asking your current employees to recommend great candidates is one of the best and most productive recruiting methods with the highest return on investment.

Healthcare recruiting trend #5: Recruitment software

Most healthcare employers are still using outdated, old school recruitment software called Applicant Tracking Systems. Of course, Applicant Tracking Systems have many benefits - they streamline, fasten and automate your hiring process. However, they re only useful after you have received job applications.

Since the biggest recruiting challenge in healthcare industry today is finding and attracting candidates, using only Applicant Tracking System is simply not enough anymore. Luckily, there is a new generation of modern recruitment software available! These new recruitment software incorporate all the features of old Applicant Tracking Systems, but also have a wide range of additional recruitment marketing features.

About the author

Kristina Martic is a Director of Marketing and Employer Branding at TalentLyft. She is an experienced digital marketer and a certified Recruitment Marketer passionate about latest marketing and recruiting trends.